Côte d’Ivoire has unexpectedly found itself in the heat of the Brexit row when the German Foreign Office mixed up its flag with that of Ireland in a tweet. The staff had to use plenty of wit to reply to the comments that followed.

“Germany and the entire EU will stand by Ireland on the backstop,” the English-language handle of the ministry tweeted, quoting FM Heiko Maas. The official was referring to the EU-backed condition of the troubled Brexit deal, which the British MPs threw away from the text in a Tuesday vote.